If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: In marketing, details matter.
Sometimes they may matter more than the big picture.
Case in point from my own marketing efforts.
A friend, Steve, put his global microbrand on the line for me.
He sent a nice intro email to his teammates suggesting that I be brought in to lead a discussion on Community Driven Marketing and social media --even though I am not a guru :-)
One of the people responded to Steve:
Looks interesting. What is his cost?
I do worry a bit when internet marketing types have dead links on their page.
Of course, my first reaction was defensive.
“What? I don’t have any dead links!”
(Actually, my first reaction was “I’m not an internet marketing type!”, but I digress.)
When I investigated, I found, to my dismay, that he was correct.
There was one link towards the bottom-middle of the home page that I had not updated. Ouch.
Now, I am in Perpetual Beta, so I accept this as part of the nature of the business, but still it hurts. A lot.
And where it hurts even more is that I hurt Steve’s brand (remember, a recommendation is an endorsement). Hopefully, not too much, but still.
And even more than that, is the fact that Steve’s co-worker has made an assessment about me that is less than 100% favorable.
Of course, I could easily say, “who does this guy think that he is? Look at my client roster and the testimonials! I know what I am doing!”
But, the fact is, impressions are made up of all these little things. If a potential client thinks that I don’t pay attention to details, then it does not matter what I think.
It matters what he sees.
Lesson: Yes, it’s nerve-wracking, but EVERY SINGLE DETAIL matters.
Bonus Lesson: You know that I’m not perfect :-)
Comments
Meir said on 3.05.2009 at 1:05 PM
Did Steve not check the presentation either?
If you're going to follow the 'brand' logic then he is partially if not equally responsible for the unfavourable review. When I work with third parties on a pitch or deal - I check their work as well.
Yes, details do matter, but what is happening here is taking a 'dead' link (small detail yes, important yes - but it also kind of indicative of an corporate culture or attitude that clamps down on the smallest slights and blemishes that do not affect the fundamentals of what you are doing and making it almost a 'personal' matter).
Lastly, impressions are very important, and you fixed the problem, but if his impression has been lessened to the extent that his fixation with your mistake overrides his views on the rest of the pitch, well then this may well be a client who will never be satisfied....
Obviously, the client always is right, but still.
chris said on 3.06.2009 at 9:47 AM
as steve's co-worker who pointed out the dead link let me just say that meir's extrapolation is dead-wrong.
what is happening here is that i have found a new, enjoyable web site that posts interesting and useful information and has demonstrated that minor criticism can be both heard and acted upon.
i'll let meir interpret that to determine if i am able to be satisfied.
Meir said on 3.06.2009 at 12:22 PM
Hi Chris & Jer,
Firstly, the response was tailored to relativise Jeremy's very serious concerns and emotional response("but still it hurts. A lot.") about potentially losing a deal because a minor detail had been noticed or that your impression is less than 100% favourable. Even the blog is titled: "The Dead Link That Costs You the Deal…"
Without prejudice to you Chris, and without the full context other than that explained here, the concern about 'internet marketing types' (!) with 'dead links' was the catalyst to wondering if this would lead to a disastrous impression. My response effectively was that if a deal was lost through such a small detail (one with zero financial or other consequences) then the clients focus was possibly skewed.
BTW My main angle here is on allaying concerns of 'fault' or 'unprofessional' behaviour rather than digging at you.
Of course, actions can be acted upon and improved and yes, details matter.
The 2nd strand relates to the brand. If we're going to take a personal Brand this seriously (and why not?), and adopt a structured, quasi-scientific approach to the Brand, then Jer's contact Steve becomes an extension of that brand IMO. Again, without prejudice to Steve (who is an innocent party in this...and who is probably wondering WTF if he's reading this!), does Jer's responsibility to his brand extend to Steve?
I would not be positing these questions if the deep emotional response to this was not being vented here.
I really enjoy reading this blog too. I pick up a lot of tips.
chris said on 3.06.2009 at 2:12 PM
Hi, Meir
Why do we keep putting "internet marketing types" in quotes?
But, as one who uses the web regularly but at probably sub-optimal levels, I don't think it unfair or unreasonable to point out dead links on web sites. But, and neither you nor Jeremy know me at all, so you can't know that my first impression is rarely my last.
The co-worker who sent me to this site is someone who I have immense respect for and I won't let a dead link be a deal-breaker.
I'll have to go back and read my Cluetrain to respond appropriately to your 2nd strand.
Chris